Mr Stratosphere

I'm excited to hear this as well!!! It will be great for downtown plus it is a great way to save this attraction other than having it rot in a vault somewhere. I bet the ex-employees are hoping for the best as well! John

Voted! Good luck to you guys!! John

^ I love that picture of the Sky Tower, it just shows how the park we know so much was not always there. It reminds me of Vegas where it seems just like yesterday these places were built and are now 15 years old. John

The thing that makes me mad the most is when people spit off of rides. It is disgusting and just hope you aren't sitting behind the people who are doing it. John

The seats do not wobble like it in the video. I remember back in the SFMM forum during WCB it was stated that they were still making adjustments to the trains during testing. I believe that this was also before the on board audio was installed. John

Here is my entry, Michael Jackson on Michael Jackson MJ.bmp Michael Jackson on Michael Jackson mj2.bmp Look inside the locomotive what is MJ doing!?!?

Revolution at SFMM yesterday, the best ride I have ever had on it. The new refurbished train!

I flew out to California yesterday for a day trip to SFMM since the park was open for Columbus Day. I don't have too many photos because the day was so short so I don't believe this TR needs its own forum. We flew out from Vegas at 7:30AM and had one of the most turbulent flights I have ever had. And took a Prime Time shuttle from Burbank Airport. The drive was a nice 45 minute ride because of traffic. It only cost about 45 bucks so it wasn't so bad. We got to the park at 9:30AM and the park didn't open until 10:30AM. To our surprise the ticket booth was already open and they weren't even letting people in to park yet. I have a season pass, but my friend had never been to SFMM yet. The rides closed sign was put up and only had Tidal Wave, Yosemite Sam Sierra Falls, and Sky Tower being closed. It was really windy so I already anticipated that one. They opened up for parking around 9:40 and around 9:50 they opened up the metal detectors and let people into the entrance plaza. While waiting for the park to open they had employees out talking to guests handing out park maps, I totally loved this because everyone had a happy and cheerful attitude. The park opened exactly at 10:30 and everyone of course started running to X2, unfortunately X2 wasn't open yet. So we headed for Viper.. Nope still testing. Went to Tatsu.. Nope still down. We we decided to head to the back of the park. To my surprise DejaVu was already open. We managed to get on the second train of the day but that still took 15 minutes to get on the ride. But I had an amazing front seat ride on DejaVu, it is still one of my favorites at the park. We decided to head back up to Tatsu to see whats up and still no word, and the same thing with X2. Viper was finally open but unfortunately only with one train so we waited 30 minutes for the ride, and much to my surprise Viper is still running great! I love that they are taking care of this ride, I had absolutely no headbanging on the ride! With X2 still closed we decided to take the Orient Express up the hill, I love that the Orient Express has automated spiels on the trip up the mountain. We headed to Ninja and had a two train wait with only one train running but that was no big deal. Ninja was running great as well. After Ninja we headed to Superman: The Escape. On our way we noticed Tatsu was testing. I knew testing sometimes takes a while so we went onward to S:TE, S:TE had a minimal wait (about three dispatches) and they were working really fast! I loved it. After S:TE we headed back to Tatsu and there was a 4 train wait at the time, but we still ended up waiting 35 minutes to board the ride. They were only running 1 train and right before we went on the employees were talking and were completely oblivious to the fact that the train was back form its run and sitting in the block before the station for about a minute and a half. I had to say something and they were like oh! Anyways we had a great ride on Tatsu, I still love the sense of height while heading up the lift, but once our ride was over we ended up sitting in the block before the station for about another 2 minutes. This was a little disappointing. When we left, the line in the bottom queue filled up half way which to me meant an hour wait the way things were going. We then headed to the back of the park it was nice to see the characters interacting with everyone and I loved how they were with children. We headed to Gold Rusher and there wasn't much of a line but the employees were great. Riddler's was next and the line was really short. They were running 2 trains and not stacking. I had a great ride on Riddler's no vibration or anything. We decided to have lunch at Fresh Cut Fries in front of Goliath, honestly these are some of the best fries I have ever had!!! After lunch we went to Batman: The Ride and there was no wait easily got 8 rides in without getting off. They were running two trains and the ride is still great!. Colossus was next they weren't running Colossus Backwards so that was kind of a bummer. They were just running the forwards side and I had a really great ride on it, not much shuffling going on. We headed to Scream! after and they were running one train, there was no need to run more than that. The ride was great and we got 4 rides on it without getting off. Goliath was next and they were running 2 trains and doing an amazing job! We got 9 rides on it without getting off. Revolution was next and while in line for the ride I received a phone call from Prime Time shuttle saying that they are canceling our reservation because of the fire. I asked is there anything you can do, or what do we do next. They said they didn't know because traffic was so bad they couldn't make it and we should take a taxi back to the airport and leave now. This was about 3pm Revolution was great they had the new refurbished train on the tracks, this train was great, it also ran quieter on the rails I noticed. We decided to head back an try one more time for X2, the employee there was very very informative and saying the ride was down due to the winds, and the wind forecast wasn't good. I loved his honesty and he suggested other rides. We did some souvenir shopping and decided to leave the park. We didn't see a taxi out in the loop so we headed back to the gate and the lady there directed us to Guest Relations and the representative there gladly called us a taxi everyone was so nice. We decided to leave because we got all coasters in except for X2. The taxi ride back was very long because of traffic but we still ended up at the Airport with 3 hours to spare. Kinda disappointing knowing we could have stayed longer, but better safe than sorry. I hope that everyone that was affected by the fires are alright! All in all we had an amazing day at Six Flags Magic Mountain and my friend wants to go back! Every employee that we came in counter with was awesome to us from entering the park to leaving. So here is the Pros and Cons of our trip and I'm happy to report way more pros than cons. Pros: Ticket Booth opening early Guest interaction before the park opened Park Opening up on time. Extremely friendly employees. I heard "Have a magic day" many times. Even though it was windy employees were still sweeping up leaves. Park and restrooms were really clean! Fresh Cut Fries. Short waits on a few signature attractions. Smooth ride on Viper Employee at the gate saw I had a season pass and said welcome back. Cons: Slow dispatches on Tatsu and Dejavu Colossus backwards closed That is really my only complaint I won't put X2 on this list because it was weather. Viper 1 train isn't an issue because they were working fast. Again this was an amazing day for me at the park. My friend will end up getting a season pass next year as well. John

I stopped by yesterday to have lunch with my Mom at the Hilton, Star Trek the Experience area is a sad sight. The SpaceQuest casino is still there, but the entrance to the Star Trek area is all boarded up with ply wood. I asked around to see if they are keeping the casino but no one seems to know anything. Most of the signage is still there but with notices that it closed. One thing I found funny was in the Star Trek themed casino they just put in some Star Wars slot machines in. I thought that was kinda ironic lol. John

I'm coming in on Monday, what do you think the crowds will be like on Columbus Day (Oct 13th)? Staying from park opening 10:30AM to 6PM. John

1. I can see all three! 2. I run Firefox 3 and Windows Vista 3. They stream just fine 4. Absolutely! John

I only see the first one, Firefox 3 John

I used to work at the Stratosphere, its not actually weight, its how big your thighs are, X-Scream and Insanity do in fact have the same exact restraints. It varies person to person. If the seat belt clicks in you are good to ride, if not they will not let you. When I was there they would do the best they can to get the one last click as long as it didn't injure the person in the seat. As far as Speed: The Ride I had a question, when it comes to LIM coasters, how cost effective is the launch, does it take a-lot of energy each time the ride was launched? I'm beginning to think that the ride didn't make enough money as well to make ends meet. John

The only rides some people will have a problem with is X-Scream and Insanity at the Stratosphere, because they are lap bar only. The seat belt on the seats are really small and not really accommodating. Canyon Blaster is a common Arrow coaster with an OTSR so there should be no problems there. Manhattan Express has pretty forgiving restraints as well. Me and my friend Melissa on Insanity. You can see the lap bars there.

There are even lower prices on the rooms for even some of the most luxurious hotels on the strip. John

A few posts back I was talking about fog in the first tunnel. At rcdb.com I found a picture that shows that. I also noticed on RCDB Speed now has an "Operated" status. John

I miss when there was a predominant theme at the park, remember "Grand Slam Canyon" and the tag line was "Adventuredome?" Those were the good days at the park. It was also a pay to enter park as well. As far as Speed: The Ride, it seemed awfully quiet on the strip without the familiar roar you heard about every 10 minutes lol. John

When I asked they said it was causing premature rusting of the track. I remember they would never shut this ride down for anything either. The last thunderstorm we had like 5 weeks ago the ride was still running. It was pouring out and even lightning in the area! It was crazy! Now the only place for that is Adventuredome lol. Hey this seems far fetched, but wouldn't it be great if the Adventuredome bought S:TR, had the station inside the dome, but the ride outside? Nah, I'm just dreaming! John

It may not be the loudest, but when you are trying to get some sleep in the hotel rooms at Buffalo Bill's and they test Desperado at 6am you may think it may be one of the loudest lol! John

It also cut down the amount of times the train had to be switched out to change out the copper fins. Another thing that I missed was the fog in the tunnel and the fog that covered the hole in the building. The fog was really refreshing during the hot summer days! John

Robb "Oh, now that is just MEAN! C'mon guys! Don't rub it in! (Anyone know what I'm referring to?)" ::Sigh:: El Toro. Thanks for the update Robb! I'll be at the Mountain on October 13th! John

Great pictures of BGE! It makes me want to go there so bad! Many of those on-ride photos are priceless! John

The main reason is the location of the Manhattan Express. The Manhattan Express at the NYNY is in a prime location at one of the busiest parts of the Strip, while Speed: The Ride is at the North end of the Strip where there is lots of construction and not as many people. Most of the mega resorts are at the south end of the strip. It also didn't help that Speed's station was kinda hidden. The entrance was near the back of the hotel. John

I was there from 1pm to 6pm, it was dead while I was there. It may have gotten busier later since the park was open until midnight. Awesome you are working FrightDome, I'm looking forward to it this year. And school being in session does make sense. Which explains why the Manhattan Express (The Roller Coaster at NYNY) is still there. It makes a lot of money, sometimes there is still a really long line for it, and they need to run 4 trains. The GP most of the time really enjoy the ride, even if it does beat you up. You still hear sometimes people saying "OMG that was the best ride I've ever been on." Even if this is the end of Speed: The ride I will miss the roar it made. John